The average fuel economy (window-sticker value) of new vehicles sold in the US in July 2016 was 25.4 mpg (9.25 l/100 km)—up 0.1 mpg from the value for June 2016, according to the latest monthly report from Dr. Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). Fuel economy is down 0.4 mpg from the peak reached in August 2014, but still up 5.3 mpg since October 2007 (the first month of their monitoring). . . .

Guy [I have lots of experience designing/selling off-grid AE systems, some using EVs but don't own one. Local trips are by foot, bike and/or rapid transit].

The 'best' is the enemy of 'good enough'.Copper shot, not Silver bullets.

The average fuel economy (window-sticker value) of new vehicles sold in the US in August was 25.3 mpg (9.29 l/100km)—down 0.1 mpg from the value for July, according to the latest monthly report from Dr. Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).

This decline likely reflects the decreased price of gasoline in August and the consequent increased sales of light trucks, they said. Fuel economy is down 0.5 mpg from the peak reached in August 2014, but still up 5.2 mpg since October 2007 (the first month of the monitoring). . . .

Guy [I have lots of experience designing/selling off-grid AE systems, some using EVs but don't own one. Local trips are by foot, bike and/or rapid transit].

The 'best' is the enemy of 'good enough'.Copper shot, not Silver bullets.

The average fuel economy (window-sticker value) of new vehicles sold in the US in September was 25.2 mpg (9.33 l/100 km)—down 0.1 mpg from the value for August, according to the latest monthly report from Dr. Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) This decline likely reflects the increased proportion of light trucks among the vehicles sold, they suggested. . . .

he model year 2016 average was 25.3 mpg (9.29 l/100 km)—the same as model years 2015 and 2014.

Guy [I have lots of experience designing/selling off-grid AE systems, some using EVs but don't own one. Local trips are by foot, bike and/or rapid transit].

The 'best' is the enemy of 'good enough'.Copper shot, not Silver bullets.

The efficiency of ICE vehicles has been improving all of this time, but instead of focusing on MPG, the manufacturers have focused on HP. They're getting more HP out of the same amount of gasoline, and applying that to amazingly high HP vehicles. As a comparison, my 85 Honda CRX HF had a mere 65 HP, and I could squeeze 55mpg out of it on the regular, with it reducing down to about 45mpg as the original engine without rebuild went past 300,000 miles. Compare that to the Honda CRZ, which is a hybrid vehicle, has the same size engine at 1.5L, but produces 112HP before the electric engine, and is rated at 37mpg. My 2000 Honda Civic HX was 112HP as well, and it was rated at 44mpg, and I would routinely get 46-47mpg from it. I just imagine that if that engine was instead a 1.3L trying to get a respectable 90HP, the fuel efficiency would have been up in the 50+ mpg.

But performance sells. Even for those of us who are ecologically minded, just look at Tesla.

Until gasoline prices are back up in the $4/gal range, I don't anticipate people's buying habits to change much.

Pulled the trigger on going EV on 10/2016 with a 2012 Leaf, and a Tesla Model 3 reservation expected to receive in June 2018.

The average fuel economy (window-sticker value) of new vehicles sold in the US in October was 24.8 mpg (9.48 l/100 km)—down 0.4 mpg from the value for September, according to the latest monthly report from Dr. Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). This likely reflects both a continuing increase in the proportion of light trucks sold each month, as well as the recent calculation adjustments for window-sticker values implemented by the EPA for model year 2017, they suggested.

The value for October 2016 is up by 4.7 mpg since October 2007, the first month of their monitoring. . . .

Guy [I have lots of experience designing/selling off-grid AE systems, some using EVs but don't own one. Local trips are by foot, bike and/or rapid transit].

The 'best' is the enemy of 'good enough'.Copper shot, not Silver bullets.

For model year 2017, the EPA revised its methodology for calculating the window-sticker fuel-economy value for new vehicles. In order to make the data for previous model years comparable with model year 2017 (and future model years), the EPA also retroactively revised the corresponding data for some vehicles in model years 2011-2016.

The monthly update for November 2016 includes these retroactive changes to model years 2011-2016. . . .

Guy [I have lots of experience designing/selling off-grid AE systems, some using EVs but don't own one. Local trips are by foot, bike and/or rapid transit].

The 'best' is the enemy of 'good enough'.Copper shot, not Silver bullets.